Builders' Forum Archives

A good kayaking weekend

Posted by Steve C on Jun 1, 2004

Petewp:

Trip 1: Athens NY to Gay's Point, Hudson River, May 29: Left 7:30 am from Athens, Working upriver on the last of the ebb tide. Stiff wind 10-15 mph from the Northwest, so I hugged the windward shore. Some areas of 1 foot chop wet the deck. Originally, is was going to paddle further, but at Gay's Point, the river aligned with the wind and was solid white caps from one side to the other - time to turn around, this was too much like work. At that time the wind seemed about 20 mph, waves picked up to 2 feet with some white caps around me. The return trip was fast, with a lot of surfing. Commercial shipping made it interesting as well. Total trip about 9 miles.

Latter in the day, at my parents lakefornt house I practices wet exits and paddle float rentries.

Trip 2: Lake Tagkahnic (spelling?), East of Hundson NY, May 30: My parents watched the kids, so Corinna and I took the CH 17 and my Dad's recreational kayak on this sheltered state park lake for a serene, slow 4 mile paddle in the park, enjoying the sunset.

Trip 3: Athens NY to Coxsackiue NY Hudson River May 31: Retraced the same route as before under placid conditions. Saw a Bald Eagle fly within 100 feet of me. Misjudged the currents and tide and wound up paddling aginst the current both ways. Mileage was 12 but felt like 16. Tried out my Greenland storm paddle for part of the trip with mixed results. Saw an Elco launch silently go by (Electric Powered Launch - Elco's are buith in the area), refreshingly quiet and elegant.

On the way back to my parents from the take out, saw a CH 18 on a roof rack in front of me. The local fellow paddles the River regularly, had just come from Lake Champlain. Small World.